The city is currently a mid-level dungeon. Gnomeregan is unique in that it contains an Alliance-friendly NPC section inside the dungeon itself, including vendors, guards, some new quests, and even a mailbox.

Gnomeregan is also unique in that it has a very technological, albeit comical, theme. Also notable is the [Hydrocane] rare staff which drops from an early mini-boss, Viscous Fallout. The staff allows permanent water breathing, and is used even by very high-level characters for this. The staff is thus situationally useful to all classes that can equip staves.

Nonetheless, Gnomeregan is often described as one of the most frustrating early instances by many players. Its long, twisting layout makes it easy to get lost, aggro-pulling alarm sentries make already dicey pulls more difficult, and quests often require players to enter the dungeon more than once.

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In a pre-Cataclysm patch, the gnomes, with help from the Alliance, launched an assault on Gnomeregan in an effort to liberate its lost capital, code name: Operation: Gnomeregan.[1][2] The event itself (but not some of the lead-in quests) was exclusively for battle-hardened heroes (level 75-80).[3] This was a limited time event, and as such is not available any longer in the game.

The gnomes have been long without a home to call their own. As a young gnome you are told that the benevolent dwarves who have taken you in will aid you in your bid to grow strong so that you might reclaim Gnomeregan once more.

To that end, we are introducing a new quest line and event by which players can take part in taking the first steps to do just that by recapturing Gnomeregan’s surface and reclaiming a small portion of their former home. Once this area has been reclaimed, all new gnomes will start in this reclaimed territory.

The city is a war zone between the Gnomeregan Exiles and the leper gnomes. The gnomish starting zone and its quests are centered around reclaiming the city and trying to force all of Thermaplugg's forces out.

New Gnome players start out as irradiated, and through a series of quests they cleanse themselves before permanent damage can be done.

The gnomes seem to be gaining ground in the city as new gnomes assist in the defeat of the lepers on the surface of the city and the killing of one of Thermaplugg's most important lieutenants.

Gnomeregan remains as an instance. The reclaimed portions outside the instance are now named New Tinkertown and are held by the Gnomeregan Exiles. All the Leper Gnomes have been removed, and Gnomish Engineers are repairing the buildings. Several launch pads also appear to have been constructed.

Despite many allusions to it, there are no repair facilities available to players.

In the Clean Room, [Grime-Encrusted Objects] can be washed in the Sparklematic 5200s for random junk, and sometimes green necklaces or rings. Since the area is filled with Alliance-friendly NPCs, Horde players will have to fight their way in. Alliance players can rest safely here; you can empty your bags at the merchant, and use the mailbox. Also, if you are Alliance, you can draw nearby mobs in, and, if you take damage, the Holdout Medics will buff you with Fortitude, and may even heal you with Renew.

Throughout the instance, there are machines that will give you a list of binary numbers. The messages that are translated from these machines include "Short and sweet" and "Down with the horde!"

Beware of roaming Mobile Alert Systems; if not destroyed quickly, they summon mobs that drop nothing.

The Arcane Nullifier X-21s buff themselves and others with a shield that reflects magic back to the caster. Watch for it, and suspend casting until it disappears.

The Dark Iron Agents near the end are some of the deadliest NPCs in Gnomeregan. When they drop land mines, attack these immediately! They have only 200hp, but they inflict over 400 damage on everyone nearby. Assign someone to destroy them and make a macro to target them.

There is a back door into Gnomeregan that is locked with a level-150 lock. It can be opened with the ([Workshop Key], dropped by the Electrocutioner 6000) or any other level-150 unlocking method. The back door is inside the Train Depot near Techbot — just walk straight forward instead of turning to the left. On the other side of the first big room, the back door is ready to be opened.

Gnomeregan still suffers from a negative reputation earned by its size and original range of difficulty, despite it being considerably nerfed, and only Thermaplugg being required for the achievement. The reputation is only fueled by the fact that for several levels, the LFG seems to send people only here instead of other places.

This dungeon was rarely run by Horde groups (prior to the LFG tool), and some of the dropped items are coveted by level-29 twinks, which makes some of the BoE drops as well as the [Discombobulator Ray] very lucrative on the Auction House.

When Emi Shortfuse tells you she's going to blow up the side tunnels she opened, get out of those side tunnels — if you are in one of those side tunnels, you will get crushed or trapped by the falling rocks, and your corpse may be too far away behind the rocks for the healer to resurrect. Likewise, if you want to loot all the troggs, pull them out of the tunnel before killing them; Emi will detonate before looting can be completed, so anyone looting bodies in the tunnel will either be trapped or killed.